Thank you one and all for the discussion on CFY salaries. Both sides
of the argument have made very valid points for and against higher than
normal salaries.
With all the good points that were made, it is difficult for me to quote
all of the good points made during this discussion. But to summarize my
feelings:
Someone made an excellent point about having to pay back the student loans
after one starts a CFY. Let us consider a typical situation. Suppose we
add together a new graduate's expenses per month: $400 rent, $200 utilities,
$300 loan repayment, $300 car payment, $300 miscellaneous expenses....
That is $1500 dollars a month on expenses...$18,000 a year. If CFY's are
offered salaries in the 15-18K range, expenses exceed income. By the time
someone gets raises in order to save up money for a house and family, they
will be pretty old. Why is it that new-graduates from say engineering get
$30k+ to start and can live comfortably right off the bat. Do they provide
the type of humanic service that we do? This may sound bitter, but I entered
this profession to help people, but to receive a fair salary in doing so.
Audiology should not be a Peace Corp type job. What fuels my argument is
that CFY's are often used to generate big $$ for ENT's that don't trickle
down to the employees. Ever notice that some physicians are always during
over CFY's in their offices.... disposable ???
It all gets back to the need to think private practice. I honor and respect
anyone who bites the bullet and start's their own practice. It takes guts
and sacrifice in order to gain autonomy.
Jeff Sirianni @(((<{
University of Texas at Austin
Communication Sciences and Disorders
CMA, 2nd Floor Clinic
Austin, TX 78712-1089
sirianni at uts.cc.utexas.edujgsaudio at aol.com